The Chamber of Secrets (Hermione Granger x Male Reader)

History of Magic

For a few days, the school could talk of little else but the attack on Mrs. Norris. Filch kept it fresh in everyone's minds by pacing the spot where she had been attacked, as though he thought the attacker might come back. Y/N had seen him scrubbing the message on the wall with Mrs. Skower's All-Purpose Magical Mess Remover, but to no effect; the words still gleamed as brightly as ever on the stone. When Filch wasn't guarding the scene of the crime, he was skulking red-eyed through the corridors, lunging out at unsuspecting students and trying to put them in detention for things like "breathing loudly and "looking happy."

 Ginny Weasley seemed very disturbed by Mrs. Norris's fate. According to Ron, she was a great cat lover.

"But you haven't really got to know Mrs. Norris," Ron told her bracingly. "Honestly, we're much better off without her." Ginny's lip trembled. "Stuff like this doesn't often happen at Hogwarts," Ron assured her. "They'll catch the maniac who did it and have him out of here in no time. I just hope he's got time to Petrify Filch before he's expelled. I'm only joking —" Ron added hastily as Ginny blanched. 

"Don't listen to him, Gin," Y/N said, trying his best to put the scared girl at ease. "Mrs. Norris'll be fine, they're working on a fix right now, and I'm sure Dumbledore's on the hunt for whoever did it."

The attack also had an effect on Hermione. It was quite usual for Hermione to spend a lot of time reading, but she was now doing almost nothing else. Nor could Harry, Y/N, and Ron get much response from her when they asked what she was up to, and not until the following Wednesday did they find out. 

Y/N had been held back in Potions, where Snape had him clean up after Neville's mess, surely a ploy to get back at Y/N for what occurred in Lockhart's office a few nights ago. After a hurried lunch, he went upstairs to meet Ron in the library, meeting Harry along the way. They saw Justin Finch-Fletchley, the Hufflepuff boy from Herbology, coming toward Them. Harry had just opened his mouth to say hello when Justin caught sight of him, turned abruptly, and sped off in the opposite direction. 

Harry and Y/N found Ron at the back of the library, measuring his History of Magic homework. Professor Binns had asked for a three-foot-long composition on "The Medieval Assembly of European Wizards."

"I don't believe it, I'm still eight inches short!" said Ron furiously, letting go of his parchment, which sprang back into a roll. "And Hermione's done four feet seven inches and her writing's tiny."

"Where is she?" asked Harry, as he sat down next to Y/N, who was grabbing the tape measure and unrolling his own homework.

"Somewhere over there," said Ron, pointing along the shelves. "Looking for another book. I think she's trying to read the whole library before Christmas."

Harry told Ron about Justin Finch-Fletchley running away from him.

"Dunno why you care. I thought he was a bit of an idiot," said Ron, scribbling away, making his writing as large as possible. "All that junk about Lockhart being so great —" Hermione emerged from between the bookshelves. She looked irritable and at last seemed ready to talk to them. 

"All the copies of Hogwarts, A History have been taken out," she said, sitting down next to Harry and Y/N. "And there's a two-week waiting list. I wish I hadn't left my copy at home, but I couldn't fit it in my trunk with all the Lockhart books."

"Why do you want it?" asked Harry.

"The same reason everyone else wants it, to read up on the legend of the Chamber of Secrets." said Hermione. 

"The Chamber of Secrets, what's that?" asked Y/N.

"That's just it. I can't remember," said Hermione, biting her lip. "And I can't find the story anywhere else —"